The Department of Education has officially unveiled its online portal offering a compilation of open educational resources aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

South Dakota teachers began working to compile and curate the collection of online resources over the past summer. The open educational resources are available through the web-based portal found at MyOER.org.

The teachers have scored many resources in the portal based on a rubric, and the curation team is currently in the process of continuing its work of aligning resources to standards and curating the resources. New, curated resources are being added throughout the year, so teachers can check back for new material when they are planning new lessons or beginning to teach new concepts.

The portal enables teachers to search for, save and comment on the resources available by using their ‘locker’ within the portal. Many educators see the ability to search by standard as a key benefit. The Common Core Blueprints are also listed under the Tools dropdown on the MyOER site, and can help teachers as they are looking at outlining lesson plans using Common Core.

Statewide trainings were held in August and October, with more than 1,600 South Dakota teachers receiving training on how to get the most out of MyOER. The department partnered with the Education Service Agencies to provide the training, and if you missed out on the first round or would like additional training with MyOER, you should contact your local ESA. The ESA can provide valuable tips on how to properly use the portal and get the most out of the information contained within.

One teacher who have attended a statewide training on MyOER said:
“I will use it to find lessons that are already prepared and will go with the Common Core standards. This will save me time and help me to expand my knowledge of the Common Core standards.”